Overview:

Mount Gerizim is a holy and historic site, located on the south side of
Shechem. The Samaritan ruins include a temple precinct and city built during the
Persian and Hellenistic periods, which was destroyed by the Hasmoneans. The
Byzantine ruins include a church and monastery built in two phases on top of
the Samaritan ruins.

The site was opened to the public in
2012 and administrated by the Israel nature and parks authority.

Location and Map:

Mt Gerizim archaeological park is located on top of the
mountain. The access to site is thru Kiryat Luza, which can be
reached from the road that leads to the Har Brakha settlement.

You
can point on the yellow
squares to navigate to the selected place within this page or other
pages.

History:

Biblical periods

Mount Gerizim is a Holy hill, located on the south side of
Shechem (today's Arabic city of Nablus). On the opposite side of
Shechem is Mount Ebal. Both of these hills witnessed the mass
ceremony held by Joshua after his entry to Canaan, following the
return of the Israelites from the Exodus in Egypt.
The ceremony took place according to the commands Moses received
earlier from God - to gather the people between the two facing
hills - Gerizim and Ebal - and bless the former while cursing
the latter.

Mt Gerzim and Nablus - view from Mt Ebal

[ Dated: 1890-1900; p/o Views of the Holy Land; Library of Congress]

The
blessing of Mt Gerizim is described in the Bible (Deuteronomy
27, 11-13): "And Moses charged the people the same day, saying,
These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye
are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and
Joseph, and Benjamin: And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to
curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali".

Both
mountains are about the same height (881m for Gerizim, 940m for
Ebal). Between them, in the valley, is the city of Shechem (Nablus).
The Canaanite/Israelite city was located to its east ("Tel Balata").

A
Biblical map is shown here, with Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim on both
sides of Shechem. Many major routes passed near Gerizim - the
north-east to Beit Shean (Skythopolis),
the east to Adam crossing over the
Jordan river, South to Jerusalem,
west to the coast, and north through Shomron/Samaria to
Jezreel and the Galilee.

In 928 BC the Israelite
Kingdom separated to the south (Judah - 2 tribes) and the north
(Israel - 10 tribes), and Gerizim became part of the Northern
Kingdom.

Assyrian conquest

At the end of the 8th C BC,
the Assyrian empire - a rising force in
the region - conquered the Northern Kingdom in a series of intrusions:

The
first intrusion was in 732BC by the Assyrian King Tiglath-Pileser III,
who annexed the area (2 Kings 15: 29): "In the days of Pekah king of
Israel came Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took ... Galilee...and carried
them captive to Assyria". The Assyrians conquered the
Galilee, but the center of the Northern Kingdom based in Samaria was left
intact. But not for long...

The
intrusions of Shalmaneser V and Sargon II in 724-712
ended the Northern Kingdom (2 Kings 17: 5-6): "Then the king of
Assyria came up throughout all the land, and went up to Samaria, and
besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea the king of Assyria
took Samaria, and carried Israel away into Assyria, and placed them in
Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes".

Orthostat relief - depicting soldiers from
different orders of the Assyrian Army, in procession; basalt; Hadatu

Tiglath-Pileser III
period (744-727BC)

[Istanbul
Archaeological museum]

Origin of Samaritans

According to inscriptions from
Sargon's palace at Khorsabad, the Assyrian king claims that 27,290 people in
Samaria were relocated to Assyria, and the capital city Samaria (Shomron) was
destroyed and later rebuilt by Sargon. As a common Assyrian conquest practice,
the Israelite exiles were replaced by people from Mesopotamia and other areas
(2 Kings 17 24-26): "And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon,
and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and
placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and
they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof".

These
new people brought with them pagan beliefs. However, the
new arrivals were a minority among the Israelites, and so they
absorbed the Jewish religion.

The
Bible writes that only after God punished them by sending lions
- they converted their religion (2 Kings 17, 25-26):

"And so it was at the beginning of
their dwelling there, that they feared not the LORD: therefore the LORD sent
lions among them, which slew some of them. Wherefore they spake to the king of
Assyria, saying, The nations which thou hast removed, and placed in the cities
of Samaria, know not the manner of the God of the land: therefore he hath sent
lions among them, and, behold, they slay them, because they know not the
manner of the God of the land".

God sends lions - by Gustav Dore (French artist, 1832-1883)

Thus, the Bible summarizes the
origin of the Samaritans (2 Kings 17, 29): "Howbeit every nation made
gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the
Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt".
Therefore, the Samaritans came from other parts of the Assyrian empire, and
converted to the local faith. They are often called "Cuthans" - named after
one of the cities where they came from (40 km northwest of Babylon). Evidence of this origin may have been
found in the excavations (Reisner & Fisher, 1908-1911) of the capital
city Samaria/Shomron (Sebastia), where a 8th C South-Mesopotamian vessel was
found by the archaeologists.

After the
Assyrian destruction, followed by the Babylonian conquest, there were still
many Israelites living in the territories of Samaria. The Bible tells of
several events that involved Israelites from this area (2 Chronicles 30; 34;
Jeremiah 39 8-10).

Most of the
Southern Kingdom of Judah were also damaged in 701BC by Assyrian intrusion of
Sennacherib, son of Sargon II, but
the city of Jerusalem resisted this onslaught (2
Chronicles 31 1). However, in 586 BC it fell to the
Babylonians, and its people were exiled to Babylon.

Persian period (6th C BC- 4th C BC)

The
Persians defeated the Babylonians (539BC), and King Cyrus "the
Great" allowed the Judean exiles to return back to Israel (Zion)
and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem.

Cyrus
restored the vessels of the temple, as illustrated here on the
right (Ezra 1:7-8): "Also Cyrus the king brought
forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar
had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the
house of his gods;".

The
returnees, headed by Ezra and Nehemiah, started to rebuild
the destroyed city of Jerusalem.

A small group of native Israelites from the North, who
remained in Samaria and Galilee during the Babylonian exile,
requested to assist in the reconstruction of the temple in
Jerusalem. The Samaritans were now devoted Jews and followed the
strict Biblical laws, and so they expected to be welcomed by the
newcomers and share the reconstruction of the nation. However, Zerubbabel
and the other Judean elders refused to absorb them into their
community. This crisis, as told below by the book of Ezra, was the
starting point of the conflict, which separated the Samaritans from
"main stream" Judaism and the two religions departed.

(Ezra 4
1-5): "Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin
heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto
the LORD God of Israel; Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the
chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you:
for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him
since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assur, which brought us up
hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of
the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do
with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves
together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus
the king of Persia hath commanded us. Then the people of the
land weakened the hands of the people of Judah, and troubled
them in building, And hired counsellors against them, to
frustrate their purpose, all the days of Cyrus king of Persia,
even until the reign of Darius king of Persia".

Since they were banished
from the Judean temple in Jerusalem, the Samaritans established
their own rival temple city on Mount Gerizim, which served as the
religious and administrative center for the Samaritans. This
construction at the end of the 5th C was headed by Sanballat, the
Governor of Samaria. The Samaritan temple substituted the one built in Jerusalem,
and became the spiritual, religious and administrative center for the
Samaritan people.

Hellenistic period (4th C - 1st C BC)

During the Hellenistic
period, with a peak in the 2nd C BC, the city around the temple
flourished. The city covered 400 Dunam (40 Hectares) with a population of 10,000, mostly
priests who served the temple and supported the Samaritan pilgrimage
from Samaria and beyond.

The city was destroyed
at the end of the 2nd C BC by the Hasmonean King John Hyrcanus I,
and many of the Samaritans were forced to bring back to Judaism.

Roman/Byzantine (1st C BC - 6th C AD)

After the Roman conquest, the
Samaritans gained again their freedom, and their communities
flourished in the region. However, they were not allowed to
rebuilt the temple city.

During the Roman times the Samaritans increased in size (a
million people) and
wealth. They populated Samaria and beyond, with dozens of
villages in the Holy Land.

The Samaritans reached a peak from the 2nd C AD (following the
Bar-Kochba revolt) to the middle of
the 5th C AD. However, their success brought upon them a
fierce reaction from the Christian population. The Byzantine
ruler Zenon constructed a church in 484 AD on the ruins of the
holy precinct, which caused the Samaritans to mutiny. After 100
years of struggles the Samaritans were forced to convert or were
exiled. Since then their numbers were reduced to a few hundred.

Map of Mt Gerizim area, with
Luza indicated by a yellow marker

Ottoman period:

In the PEF
map (1878) the site is listed as Jebel et Tôr, with an altitude 2848 ft.

The authors Conder and Kitchener write about Mt Gerizim
in the
Survey of Western Palestine - SWP (Vol 2 pp. 187-190). Excerpts of
their reports are provided in the appropriate sections in this web page.

In
addition, they summarized their report in the introduction to the survey
(Vol 1 p 13):

"On
Mount Gerizim numerous excavations were made, under the direction of
Lieutenant Anderson. Within the ruin known as the " Castle" the
foundations of an octagonal church were laid bare, probably the one known
to have been built there by Justinian. On the eastern side of the church
is an
apse, on the northern side the main entrance, and on each of the others
doors leading to small side chapels. In the interior are the piers of a
smaller octagon, apparently intended to carry a dome. The church and
castle were found to be built on a rough platform
of large stones laid together without mortar, and of this—which may
possibly be that on which the Samaritan Temple stood—the so-called "twelve stones" form a
portion. No trace of large foundations could be found on the southern
portion of the small plateau on which the castle stands. Close to the Holy
Rock of the Samaritans a number of human remains were dug up, but no clue
could be obtained to their age or nationality".

Part of map Sheets11 of Survey of Western Palestine, by Conder and Kitchener, 1872-1877. (Published
1880, reprinted
by LifeintheHolyLand.com)

Modern times

The
archaeological excavations started in 1982 and continued for 22
seasons, directed by Y. Magen of the Archaeological staff for Judea and Samaria. These
excavations shed
light on the history of the Samaritans, and proved the accuracy
of the book of Nehemiah and the historical accounts of Josephus
Flavius.

Mt Gerizim is under full
Israeli control (aka, "C" zone), and therefore can be accessed by
Israelis.

Structure:

The plan of Mount Gerizim is illustrated in the following diagram,
as identified by the archaeological excavations of Tel Gerizim. There are 4
main periods, illustrated in 4 colors: Persian period (late 5th C BC),
Hellenistic period (2nd C BC), Byzantine periods (5thC and 6th C).

You
can point on the yellow
squares to navigate to the selected place within this page or other
pages.

Photos:

General View

Mt Gerizim is seen here on this southwest view. Around the
hill are traces of ruins, most of them not yet excavated. During the
Hellenistic period, with a peak in the 2nd C BC, the city covered 400 Dunam
(40 Hectares) with a population of 10,000, mostly priests who served the
temple (covering an area of 30 Dunam) and supported the Samaritan pilgrimage from Samaria and beyond.
The city was destroyed at the end of the 2nd C BC by the rival Hasmoneans.

The ruins of the
temple and holy sites, as well as the visitor center and the parking, are located on the
top of the mountain. This is approached by a road ascending from the Samaritan
village - Kiryat Luza.

Click on the photos to view in higher resolution...

South-East side of the Hellenistic precinct

The tour of the site
starts from the visitor center where the car is parked. Then, the pathway
leads the visitor north towards the southeast side of the temple area.

This
section is marked on the map as a red square.

The ruins of a
south east side of the Hellenistic period sacred precinct
are seen below in the foreground, with the walls of the Byzantine Church and
the Sheik's tomb in the background.

In the center of the sacred precinct was the Samaritan temple, which
stood on the highest point in the city and was well fortified.
The temple stood where the Byzantine church
now stands. The precinct measured 136m east-west and 212 north-south, with two
main gates on the north and east sides. Around the precinct are remains
of the unwalled city. The temple and the city were
totally destroyed by the Hasmoneans at the end of the 2nd C BC.

A view of the south east walls and the citadel that was embedded in
its wall are seen in the next picture. The citadel protected the southeast
side of the Hellenistic sacred precinct and included watchtowers and a
well preserved hall.

In the background are the houses of the city of Nablus (Shechem) and
Balata.

Hellenistic Fortified enclosure

On the south
western side of the sacred precinct was a wide staircase which connected the west side of the city to the top of the hill, where the temple once stood
during the Hellenistic period.

A public structure and a fortified courtyard were located to the north of
the staircase. It is indicated as a red square
on the map. This courtyard is
seen in the photo below, and behind it is the location of the staircase.

The visitor center is seen here on the far left background, while the
settlement of Har Brakha is
on the far right background.

Below - a eastern view of the area of the staircase, which is used
today to descend to the
residential area. To the right of the stairs, on
the south east side of the courtyard, was a watch tower that protected the
gate.

The staircase is 8.5m wide, and leads to
a paved plaza. Upon this plaza the archaeologists found small hearths
containing small animal bones, which were sacrificed during the annual
Passover gatherings.

In the far right background are the houses
of the modern Samaritan quarter - Kiryat Luza.

Byzantine Winepress

On the south
western side of the site is a large wine press
dated to the Byzantine period. Its location is shown on the map as a
red square.

The number of
winepresses increased considerably during the Roman/Byzantine period, and
its production and export was one of the leading incomes. Hundreds
of winepresses are found in the fields, villages, monasteries and
cities of the Holy Land. The winepress served the monastery and also provided
an income. You can read on winepresses in the
info page.

Hellenistic Mansion

During the
Hellenistic period, the city around Mt Gerizim covered 400 Dunam (40
Hectares) with a population of 10,000.

One of the structures that
were excavated and reconstructed is a large complex, located to the west
of the temple walls. Its location is shown on the map as a
red square.

The mansion was composed of
two buildings around a central courtyard, covering an area of 40m x 40m.
It included courtyards, living rooms, dining halls, cooking areas,
and an oil press.

The entrance to this side
of the mansion was by a wide (1.8m) staircase, descending from the street
on the western side of the sacred precinct down into a small courtyard.

The staircase seen in the photograph indicates that the mansion had
a second level.

Another entrance to the mansion was through a paved street from the
north side. This paved street passed through the complex, as seen here on the
south side of the mansion:

Inside the mansion was an oil press,
which was adjacent to the street below the sacred precinct.
It measured 19 x 22m and was entered through the north side.

A crushing stone (1.16m diameter) and
basin (2.1m diameter), seen in the rear, crushed the olives as the first
step. Then, the crushed olives were collected into a basket. The second
step is the oil press, a lever based installation consisting of
elements which are seen on the front side - pressing weights and axis are
seen here. The juice poured into the collecting vat on the lower left
side. The third step was to collected the olive juice into jars, then move
them to the storerooms on the right.

The following picture shows a view of the rear and top side of
the oil press. Notice the square niche above the sign on the western wall -
this held the wooden beam which held the pole of the crushing stone.

Western Walls

On the western side
of the mountain, three walls were discovered: the earlier Persian wall,
the Hellenistic wall and the Byzantine wall. Their location is shown on
the map as a
red square.

The following photo
shows the three phases of walls - the front wall dated to the
Hellenistic period, behind it the Persian period wall, and behind the
modern fence is the Byzantine period wall.

The Persian wall, dated to the end of the 5th C BC, was
part of the the first construction of the sacred precinct. At that time the
holy complex was smaller in size - 96m by 96m. It large gate, with two triple
chambers, was located on the north side (facing Shechem). This wall was
constructed of fieldstones.

The later phase of construction is dated to the beginning of the 2nd
C BC, during the Hellenistic period. In this period the area of the
sacred precinct was enlarged by a factor of 3 - to 212m (north-south) by 136m
(east-west). However, the western walls remained at the same line, while the
area was increased on the east and the south sides.

The Hellenistic wall was made of trimmed quarry stones, as
shown in this section of the wall.

During the Byzantine
period, a section of the precinct was converted into a monastery
and Church in 484 AD. This fortified wall and towers were
added only later (529AD), after the Samaritans attacked the church. The Byzantine wall is
located on a higher level, and protected a smaller area - the
monastery size is 100m
(north-south) by 83m (east-west).

The gate to the complex was
located on the north side, following the location of the gates of
the earlier constructions.

The tour takes the visitor along the Byzantine walls and up to the
south-west tower where there is an entrance to the complex.

"Twelve stones"

Along the western
Byzantine wall is a Samaritan holy place, known as the "Twelve stones". Their location is shown on
the map as a
red square.

According to the Samaritan
tradition, this place was the altar that the Joshua and the Israelites built after
crossing the Jordan after returning from the exile in Egypt.

The Bible writes about the command
to build the altar (Deuteronomy 27 4-8): :Therefore it shall be when ye
be gone over Jordan, that ye shall set up these stones, which I command you
this day, in mount Ebal, and thou shalt plaster them with plaster. And
there shalt thou build an altar unto the LORD thy God, an altar of stones:
thou shalt not lift up any iron tool upon them. Thou shalt build the altar of
the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer burnt offerings thereon
unto the LORD thy God: And thou shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat
there, and rejoice before the LORD thy God". And thou shalt write upon the
stones all the words of this law very plainly".

The command in
Deuteronomy was actually to build it on Mt Ebal, not
on Har Gerizim. However, the Samaritan version of the Torah has a slight
change in these verses - rather than Ebal it is written HarGrizim ("Mount
Gerizim"). Thus, the location of the alter is here rather than on
Mount Ebal (which is seen in the picture below in the far background).

The PEF report
of 1872/1875 writes about this place (SWP Vol 2 p 188):

"The Twelve
Stones, traditionally said to have come from Jordan, form a corner of a
platform; they were excavated by Captain Anderson in 1 866. They are large
masses of rock, quite unhewn, and appear natural, but underneath them are
two other courses of stones rudely dressed and not squared. The upper
course of the three thus formed has a height 2 feet 2 inches, and the
length of the stones varies from I foot 10 inches to 2 feet 8 inches. Thus
they are not of very great size.

It seemed
difficult in 1875 to be certain whether there were twelve or thirteen. The
north-west corner of the platform was laid bare by the excavation in 1876.
...

The
platforms, including the twelve stones and those on the east, may perhaps
have formed part of the temple on Gerizim said to have been built by
Sanballat".

"Samaritan chapel on Mt. Gerizim" The site
as it looked during the PEF survey.

[ Dated: ~1898; Matson collection; Library of Congress]

Byzantine Church

The Byzantine ruler Zenon constructed a monastery and a church in 484 AD on the ruins of
the holy precinct. Later it was enlarged by the ruler Justinian in 529 AD.
It was dedicated to Mary 'Mother of God', or: Theotokos
(Greek for "God-bearer").

The area of
the Monastery complex is 100m x 83m, which includes a church in its
center, a gate and water reservoir on the north side, and a monastery
building and bathhouse on the northeast side. The monastery is protected
by an outer wall, while the church is located in a precinct protected by
an inner wall of 55m by 70m.

A view of the church is seen
here from the southwest tower. Behind it is a 12th C Sheikh's tomb which was
erected in the northeast tower of the church.

The form of the church is that of an octagon typical
of the commemorative Byzantine churches, such as the
Kathisma (which was also named Theotokos),
St. Peter's house in Capernaum. According
to scholars, the Kathisma was the original design and its unique architectural
design was copied to the other structures.

The church is built in the form of two concentric sets of
walls, with the area between the walls forming four chapels. The two closest
chapels to the apse are larger than the two western chapels.

The center area inside the inner wall constituted the main hall of
the church with an apse (seen below) in its eastern end. Two additional,
square rooms flanked the apse.

The south side of the church:

The south-east chapel, one of the four chapels along the octagonal
shape, is seen in the following picture. A hexagonal stone installation at the
apse was probably the baptismal of the church.

A closer view of the south-east chapel is seen next, with the
hexagonal shaped baptismal.

Notice also the holes in the wall, which once held the marble stones
which decorated the walls.

Stairs lead to the second floor on the southeast corner of the
church:

A crypt was located on the east side of the apse. The remains
of several skeletons and glass bottles were found inside the crypt.

One of the decorated stones with a cross:

The PEF report of
1972/1875 wrote about the church (SWP Vol 2 pp 18-189): "Christian
Ruins: these consist of a church surrounded by a rectangular fortress with
corner towers, and with a large tank on the north. The church is an octagon,
with an apse to the east and small side chapels except on the west and north,
where were apparently entrances ; only the foundations remain. An inner line
of eight pilasters divided a surrounding corridor from the central area, which
was probably surmounted by a dome.

The church measures 70
feet across inside, east and west (inscribed circle of the internal octagon).
The east apse is 1 5 feet diameter. The side-chapels are 27 feet long inside,
with apses 9 feet diameter ; their walls are thinner than those of the church.

This church is related
by Procopius to have been erected by the Emperor Zeno not earlier than 474
A.D., and to have been dedicated to the Virgin.

The surrounding
fortress (el Kulah) measures 180 feet north and south by 230 feet east and
west, with walls about 9 feet thick. There are four corner towers, and one
central on the south wall ; they are about 30 feet square outside ; entered
from the inner court. The north-east corner tower has been rebuilt in later
times with a rude modern dome, and is now a sacred spot dedicated to Sheikh
Ghanim, or, according to the Samaritans, the tomb of Shechem Ben Hamor. A
flight of steps leads to the roof.

The court has a gate
10 feet 10 inches wide on the north, and the whole seems once to have been
surrounded by small chambers built against the wall inside, one of which
measured internally 11 feet 9 inches by
14 feet 4 inches along the line of the wall. This is just east of the gate.
Outside on the north are modern walls.

This exterior wall is
related by Procopius to have been built by Justinian (after 529 a.d.). It is
thus one of the most valuable monuments of Byzantine art in Palestine, as
being dated, and the masonry deserves special attention.

The interior masonry
and that of the church is better dressed, and not drafted. The work is
finished with a blunt-pointed chisel used at right angles to the stone,
forming a mottled surface, instead of lines, such as are made by the toothed
instrument. The great reservoir north of the Kulah measures 120 feet east and
west by 60 north and south, and is lined with similar drafted masonry. Such
reservoirs occur in most of the great ruined monasteries of the Byzantine
period.

A cross is
cut over the entrance of one chamber on the east wall. There was a
debased Corinthian capital found in 1866. The flooring of the church
was then found to be partly of marble, partly of tiles, on a
platform of rough masonry. The walls of the church have been
entirely demolished, but five or six courses of the outer fortress
wall remain in sittu".

Panoramic view:

A 360 degrees panoramic view, as seen from the center
of the church,
in shown in the following picture. If you press on it, a panoramic viewer will
pop up. Using this
flash-based panoramic viewer, you can move around and
zoom in and out, and view the site in full screen mode. Hot spot
markers provide pointers to important places.

To open the
viewer, simply click on the photo below. It will open a new window
after a minute or so.

Hellenistic Sacred Precinct - East

The east
side of the sacred precinct is facing a steep fall, and so the designers
of the Hellenistic-period city had to build thick walls and supporting
beams in order to cope with the angle of the descent.

Three
parallel thick walls were built along different levels, and the
cavity between them was filled up with soil in order to create two long
courtyards parallel to the top of the mountain. These courtyards were used
as a camping area for the pilgrims and visitors to the temple. A wide
staircase, up to 20m wide, led up to the two-chambered eastern gate which
is located just under the eastern wall of the church. From the gate the
pilgrims would have entered into the temple.

The photo shows
the section of the eastern gate and the area of the staircase below it.

To the south of the gate and staircase was a watch tower, seen here
in the center. South of it were two courtyards, to the right of the watch
tower. On the south-west side of the courtyards was a citadel.

From this side of the mountain is a great panorama of the valley
of Michmethah, the town of Balata (left) and Rujib (right), the valley of Beit
Dejan (far center) and Salim (far left). The mountains beyond the
Jordan valley are seen in the very far background.

In the center
of the picture, beyond the houses of Rujib, is a small hill (altitude 613m)
with ruins dated to the early Israelite period. The place is called Kh.
Juliejil on the PEF map, and its name may have preserved the Hebrew name
of the Gilgal facing Shechem (Deuteronomy 11 29-30): "And it
shall come to pass, when the LORD thy God hath brought thee in unto the land
whither thou goest to possess it, that thou shalt put the blessing upon mount
Gerizim, and the curse upon mount Ebal. Are they not on the other side Jordan,
by the way where the sun goeth down, in the land of the Canaanites, which
dwell in the champaign over against Gilgal, beside the plains of Moreh?".

Tel Balata - the mound of the Canaanite city - is seen here on the center
of the left side, surrounded by modern houses of the Arab town of Balata al-Balad
("the village"). The modern town covers a third of the ancient mound and is a
suburb of Nablus. Additional historic sites in this town includes Joseph's
tomb (also seen here in the center) and Jacob's well.

To the south-east of Balata al-Balad is the largest refugee camp in
the West Bank - also named Balata.

Panoramic view:

Another 360 degrees panoramic view, as seen from the east side
of the church,
in shown in the following picture.

To open the
viewer, simply click on the photo below.

Altar of Sacrifice of Isaac

A small fenced area close to the parking lot is, according to the
Samaritan tradition, this was Mt Moriah - the place of the altar upon which
Abraham was commanded to sacrifice his son.

"The Place
where Abraham offered Isaac, according to the tradition of the Samaritans,
is a little rock-sunk trench at the southeast corner of the plateau, on
the summit of Gerizim. It resembles the trough used for the Passover
feast, and measures about 8 feet by 5 feet.

A
semicircular flight of seven steps (traditionally called the Seven Steps
of Adam out of Paradise) leads down in this direction from the west".

A closer view of
the "Rock Moriah" is shown below. On the right is a historic photo as the
place was 80 years ago.

The Samaritan Passover on Mt. Gerizim.
Pilgrimage on the "Rock Moriah" - the altar of the sacrifice of Isaac.

[ Dated: 1936; Matson collection; Library of Congress]

According to the Bible (Genesis
22 1-4):

"And it came to
pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham:
and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son
Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him
there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

And Abraham rose
up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with
him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up,
and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham
lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off".

Isaac was spared,
after Abraham was told not to harm his son, and substituted the offering by a
ram (Genesis 22 14): "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold
behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the
ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son".